Roanoke
by Anastasia T Wolfe
Summary: Croatoan. That was what was carved on the tree in Roanoke, the lost colony, that disappeared seemingly into thin air. Loki was blamed back then, but now, it's happening again, and Thor begs for Loki's assistance. Jane Foster is stuck in the middle. Of course she is . . .
1. Chapter 1

"You want my help?" Loki asked him, "fine jest, Thor." He leaned back on the hard marble slab that passed as a bed. He found it simply laughable that his 'brother' needed his help, and he guessed that it was either an attempt to humiliate him or prove to Odin that he was secretly not as jaded as hr appeared or something.

"This is no laughing matter, Loki!" Thor snapped. He was an impertinent man-child, and just about always snapped when he couldn't get his own way, and as Loki glanced at Thor through the slightly yellow tinged protective force shield, he could see just how angry the hulking oaf was getting.

"I am not laughing, _brother_," as he said that last word, he mimed quotation marks with his fingers and smiled wryly, "why after all this time, you come to see me? I spared Odin's life, did I not?"

"Impersonating the Allfather is treason of the highest order," Thor told him stoically.

"He is not my king," Loki spat, "I have no allegiance to him, or to any of the realms. As far as I am concerned, your pet human can be as lost as she likes."

Thor fumed. Loki had always been able to do this, get at the truth through manipulation. Changing the subject for a moment was a great way of breaking Thor's steadfast resolve, and it worked, each and every time.

"Unfortunately, I know you, Thor," Loki replied snidely.

"Hear me out, Loki," Thor sighed.

Loki grinned, "Are you going to tell me a story?"

"In a way," Thor said simply, "Roanoke."

Loki sat up immediately. From the 1200's to the 1600's, he tended to spend a lot of time in North America, seeding chaos there when he had to leave Asgard to avoid killing someone. Roanoke was an English settlement, and it disappeared without a trace. And since he liked to spend time there, he was the one blamed . . .

"If you are here to blame me for a second time . . ." he started.

"Croatoan."


	2. Chapter 2

Jane barricaded the doors. Something was out there, eating people. Something in the ground . . .

Darcy continuously handed her things, a broom handle, a fire extinguisher, anything that she thought may be helpful. The problem was she didn't know what to use the fire extinguisher for.

"What the hell is that?" she yelled. The mousy-haired woman they all knew as Darcy was hardly the most relaxed person in the world, and right now she was borderline, although Jane thought it probably wouldn't be long until she crossed the border.

"How should I know?" Jane bit back.

_Hey, Erik, you've got a brilliant choice of summer getaway spots . . ._

"You're the one who's been to another planet!" Darcy bit at her.

"Three, actually," Jane corrected her.

Darcy fumed, but didn't say anything, probably a little too frightened to even shit herself. And then there was a bright flash of light that they had to shield their eyes from.

"What the . . . ?" Darcy struggled for words.

"Realm travel in a bubble," said another voice, a little more cheery than Jane had remembered it, and the light began to dissipate, "can't beat it," he was still as sarcastic as he was back then though.

"Shut up Loki," Thor bit at him. The former brothers stood there before them, both in their Asgardian armor, but they both looked grizzled and undignified in a way, especially Loki who looked as though he hadn't showered for weeks. He clutched his lower back in a lot of pain.

"You forget," Loki held a finger to his lips, "you asked for my help. I know more about this than you. I was there last time."


	3. Chapter 3

That was when Jane slapped Thor, and Loki grinned, "Where the hell were you?" she bit at him.

"There has been unrest among the realms," Thor told her calmly.

"And we all know who they blame," Loki said with a grin, "hello, Jill."

Jane reeled around on him, "my name is Jane."

Loki shrugged, "whatever."

Darcy extended a hand to Loki, "and you must be the troublemaker himself," she grinned. He shook her hand gently. Darcy was one of Thor's humans, and he would die if he hurt her.

"That I am," Loki said neutrally, "you don't want to kill me?"

She shrugged, "not really," she grinned awkwardly, "you mentioned that you were there last time this happened?" Loki nodded, "what exactly is going on?"

"To tell you the truth, I never found out first time."

"I'm inspired with confidence."


	4. Chapter 4

They were in an abandoned warehouse of some kind, filled with crates of tinned food that had long passed their expiry dates and the smell of overwhelming dust and cobwebs filled his nostrils. He sneezed.

All eyes were suddenly on Loki, "what?"

He needed a look outside, but that was not feasible from being stuck in this box with two humans, and Thor.

He climbed a stack of crates to look out one of the giant barred windows which let moonlight shine in. the streets were clear, although this was Roanoke, Virginia, a fairly large centre in the state, so why was everything completely empty?

_If one does not learn from the past, then he is doomed to repeat it_. He heard his mother's voice in his head, and tried to shake it out. But he did know one thing, it was happening again because he couldn't stop it last time.

MAY 1590

Loki was much younger then, and a little more idealistic. He had joined the colonists when they had first set sail to Roanoke Island in Dare County. The main reason was because he was bored, and the lesser one was that he felt that something funny was going on, and he wanted to check out the tingly feeling in his gut.

Over two years, he watched the colony carefully. He didn't know why he had a weird feeling, but he figured the closer eye he kept on them, the less could go wrong, and then in May, it did anyway.

The ground began to attack people.

Loki knew that the gods of the Native American people were powerful, hailing from Alfheim and having stronger magic than any sorcerer on Asgard or beyond could dream of, but this was not something that the peaceful Light Elves would do; even to protect their people from invasions. He cavorted with them a lot too, and played a few tricks on them. Despite being Loki of Asgard, he was also Coyote, the North American trickster.

He had tried to help, but no matter what spells he used, the rock-warriors kept coming. They were tiny, and would burrow through skin and clothes, consuming from the inside . . .

And he had no way to stop them.


	5. Chapter 5

"Perhaps you can explain to me what is going on?" Jane said to Thor.

"Not I," he told her.

"Good evening," Loki called down to them from his perch at the massive window, "it is some sort of creature that is all I know. It burrows through the body, and to the brain, driving otherwise sane minds," he struggled with his words for a moment, "what is it that humans say?"

"Stark raving kookoo for Coccopuffs," Darcy offered.

He waved a hand down at her, "oh, yes. That."

"How do we stop it, Loki?" Thor demanded to know.

"How should I know?" Loki bit back, "_father_ pulled me off this scummy planet before I figured out how to stop them," there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice, and Thor scowled.

"We're all gonna die," Darcy moaned, "we're all gonna die!"

"Calm down, Darcy," Jane told her, "we'll think of something."

"C'mon, Jane, not even a god could stop these things!" she was halfway between a fit of rage and a fit of terror.

Loki jumped down from his perch and gave her a cutting glare, "first of all, thank you for calling me a god," he started, "second of all, we are not going to die. These . . . things have already got the better of me once, and believe me when I say that it is never going to happen again. Now sit down, shut up and let me think."


	6. Chapter 6

What could fight Earth and beat it? Fire could break rock, however it still existed, and even if the fire was hot enough to create magma, then gas, it would still exist, and hence still be able to destroy.

Ice could break and weather earth too, albeit more slowly.

Wind could also erode soil and stone, but the same problem still existed.

All light would do was cast a shadow.

No elemental powers were going to destroy these things, and so Loki had to delve further into his toolkit. Most of what he had learned was to be used in a battle against the more obvious things, like beasts, warriors and dragons, not elemental rock creatures that burrowed through the skin like scarab beetles in the Mummy. No, he was going to have to think of something else he could use, and then it struck him.

What about mortal weapons, firearms?


	7. Chapter 7

He wasn't too good at making something out of nothing, especially something as complex as a firearm. Perhaps the humans were not as stupid as he had first thought. He had tried to make this simple pistol with his mind three times before coming to grip with the complexity of the firing mechanism. Once, the whole weapon fell apart as if it were nothing more than a child's toy. The second fired, and fell apart the second the bullet left the barrel, Benny Hill style, and the barrel of the third banana-peeled as he tried to shoot it.

Thor and the humans watched him curiously for over an hour, and all he had done was to create one meager pistol. Darcy then pulled something from her handbag, a silver pistol, and she cocked her head.

"I hate you," Loki sighed.

"What? It's America."

They did not have much time. Within a day, no one was left alive, and it was entirely possible that this isolated group was the only one left in the town. This time, Loki was going to finish this, and not Odin or the world could get in his way.

Jane and Darcy sealed all the cracks under the doors with cloths and duct tape. The more isolated they were from the world, the better chance they had of survival.

"What now?" Thor called up to him as he stared out the large window.

"Now, we wait."


	8. Chapter 8

Croatoan. Back in 1590, it was thought that it meant that the colonists had decided to move to the Croatoan Islands, not far away, but Loki had finally figured out exactly what it meant. It didn't refer to an island. It referred to a planet.

He had seen many other planets before he had fallen into the grip of the Chitauri, and Olympus was one of them, and one of the more frightening ones he had come across.

It was the home of another set of gods, the Olympians, but they were fighting a great war with a plague they called simply and vaguely 'the Plague' or Crotos, named for their god of destruction, Cronos. This plague could be transmitted from person to person and caused madness, degradation of internal organs, and was characterized by round sores that looked mildly like bites, but bored deep. This reminded him of Roanoke, and that was what had alerted him to the fact that all possible universes were in some way connected. They had also been under Chitauri attack for months, and as they had risked a lot by taking him in when he had fallen, he insisted on fighting with them, and he was captured in a last ditch attempt to save Olympus. No one else knew of this, and he would rather they not.

In a way, falling from Bifrost was both the best and the worst thing that had ever happened to him.

The great Olympians fought Crotos, or Croatoan, and they lost. A little voice in the back of his mind said _what chance do you have, stupid Yotun?_


	9. Chapter 9

"Do you know what you're doing?"

"Not really."

"Are you mad?"

"Perhaps."

"Why must you venture outside?"

"Because I must," Loki answered back cryptically, "soon enough, it will burrow through the floor."

"What will?" Jane demanded to know.

"Croatoan." He answered back, "I'll be back in a while. Darcy," he addressed her.

"Yeah?"

"Shoot anything that moves."

The streets were completely clear, apart from the huge holes coming up through the tarmac and paving. Cars were ruined and burning and some buildings had collapsed. There were no moans or cries for help, but this flesh-eating disease that hid in the form of soil and stone had already decimated their bodies. This was why there was nothing left, not even bone.

"Heimdall, don't you even dare," he whispered to himself as he shot off down the street, and he wondered, why now?

There was only one answer. They were hungry again.


	10. Chapter 10

He began to shoot at them as they rose from the ground, but the firearm was doing no good, "damn it," he cringed, "damn, damn, damn!"

The one thing about a stone was that while it could kill you, you couldn't kill it . . . the only remaining potion was a trap, and he was now cut off from the warehouse. And besides, for a trap, he had to be the bait.

He pulled something out of a pocket that he did not realize was there. It was an incendiary grenade of some sort, one that opened a portal of some kind, into the Void, most likely. He has stolen several from the dark elves, as an incredibly useful and less dangerous way to fight, but again, it was reliant upon getting them all in the same place.

Thor watched from the huge window as Loki tossed away the firearm and reached into a pocket. The grenade, of course. That would be a perfect way to at least get these creatures off this planet, or perhaps crust them into singularity. The humans would call it a 'black hole' grenade.

Inwardly, he prayed that his brother would not do anything stupid.

Loki feared that he was about to do something stupid.

It would most likely kill him.

And if it did not, he would be eaten alive by Croatoan.

Either way, he would be very dead.

At least so would they.

The trap had to be perfect, hopefully to be triggered remotely, the Croatoan led to a duplicate while he sat behind on a rooftop and triggered it from there. Hopefully it will all go well.

Failing that, plan H, as in he was going to Hel.


	11. Chapter 11

The duplicate held the grenade, and even though his duplicate had limited actions, even a moron like Thor could make a duplicate that could pull the firing pin from a grenade. He was vaguely aware of people watching him, but at the moment, he did not care. From the rooftops, he watched as his duplicate was swarmed, and then he made the command to pull the pin.

However all the duplicate did was disappear.

"Mental note," he muttered, "next time Thor asks for help, tell him where to stick it."

And that's when they began to encroach on the warehouse, and while he had never liked his brother, he would not let him be eaten alive by those . . . things . . .

And so he skidded down the roof that he was perched on, and made a dash for the grenade, "over here you freaky monsters!" he yelled, and as they were swarming, he tossed the grenade right at them.

It exploded, and immediately a portal opened. All the pebble like things were sucked up and for a long time after the portal closed, Loki just sat on the ground in the middle of the deserted road, breathing heavily.


	12. Chapter 12

It exploded, and immediately a portal opened. All the pebble like things were sucked up and for a long time after the portal closed, Loki just sat on the ground in the middle of the deserted road, breathing heavily.

Thor joined him after a few moments, Jane and Darcy following him. Truly they were his pets . . .

He lay on the road, looking up to the stars, and for a moment he wondered where Asgard was among those stars.

"Brother," Thor offered him a hand up, and he took it, getting back onto his feet.

"Thor," Loki breathed, "if I ever get the urge to help _anyone_, _ever_," he paused for a moment, "hit me until I regain my senses."

Loki had no desire to return to his cell, and after that heroism, Thor had no reason to want to make him, and so he returned to Asgard alone while Loki stole a car on the street and drove off.

It was uncertain how the humans would deal with this, they would probably blame Loki, and even in Asgard, they would blame him too. But Thor was going to be the one to convince them that Loki was a hero and had earned a leave of absence, at least until next time.

But when he arrived in the Great Hall, there was no one. He searched the palace, for someone, anyone, but all he came across was bronzed statues. There was no one, nowhere. Even Heimdall was not at his post. His fear began to grow. What had happened whilst he was gone?

He approached the throne. Something had been carved into it.

_Croatoan . . ._

"Loki!"

Halfway across the universe, Loki was laughing, "sometimes I love my job!"

**SO, YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT THIS IS THE END. IT'S ONLY A SHORT ONE!**


End file.
